• Germany and France to gather Western Balkans leaders on 29 April (media)
• Haradinaj: I am not requested to lift tariff anymore (media)
• Serbian List to take part in elections in the north (media)
• Daka: Elections in the north with Kosovo symbols (T7/Bota Sot)
• “Serbs’ decision to go to polls can initiate resumption of dialogue” (media)
• Thaci: Appalled by offensive statements of officials in Belgrade (RTK)
• Hoxhaj: Insulting war victims should be legally banned (Epoka e Re)
• Hoti: Impossible to negotiate with those who dispute Recak massacre (media)
• Rasic on Recak massacre: Respect for all the victims (RTK)
• Phillips: Border correction, bad idea (Bota Sot)
• Lluka: Serbia knows the whereabouts of each missing person (Telegrafi)
• MPs call for extraordinary session on youth fleeing Kosovo (media)

Germany and France to gather Western Balkans leaders on 29 April (media)

Klan Kosova reported yesterday that Germany and France have decided to call a meeting of the Western Balkans leaders on 29 April in Berlin to encourage cooperation based on the German-French example. Participants are expected to include, among others: Hashim Thaci and Ramush Haradinaj from Kosovo, Edi Rama and Ilir Meta from Albania, Aleksandar Vucic and Ana Brnabic from Serbia. The meeting will have an informal character and will focus on exchange of ideas and also on the Kosovo-Serbia dialogue.

Ahead of the meeting, Thaci said he appreciates the growing interest on the part of Germany and France to have Kosovo and Serbia reach agreement following that of Greece and North Macedonia but that he doesn’t expect anything new to come out of the meeting.

“Of course Kosovo will take part alongside all Western Balkans leaders as an independent and sovereign country but I don’t expect anything new from this meeting in relations between Kosovo and Serbia,” Thaci said.

He said the forum will be a good opportunity to give impetus to the visa liberalisation issue but also for the participants and organisers “to condemn Serbia’s genocide in Kosovo.”

Haradinaj: I am not requested to lift tariff anymore (media)

The Prime Minister of Kosovo Ramush Haradinaj said on Wednesday that he is no longer being asked to remove the 100-percent import tariff on Serbian products. According to Haradinaj, those who requested to remove the tariff, including close collaborators, are weakening Kosovo.

“Whoever is rushing to weaken Kosovo through the tariff, stay put. The time when we were oppressed is long gone. We were forced to impose this tariff, we were forced by Serbia,” Haradinaj said.

“Everyone knows that it will not be lifted. No one even asks me to do so anymore. They understood and gave up from this,” Haradinaj said.

Serbian List to take part in elections in the north (media)

Following their meeting with Serbian President Aleksandar Vucic, representatives of the Serbian List announced they would run for local elections in four northern municipalities of Kosovo. Goran Rakic, leader of the Serbian List, said the decision to take part in elections is so as not to allow Albanians winning leading posts in the north. “We will not allow Pristina or the international community brining to these posts Albanians or Serb puppets,” Rakic said as quoted in Zeri.

According to Serbian media, in the meeting in Belgrade, Vucic told Serbian List representatives that he would personally prefer them to take part in elections. “Even if you run, this would not be a final decision as you could still resign once you win,” Vucic is reported to have told the Serbian List.

Daka: Elections in the north with Kosovo symbols (T7/Bota Sot)

Valdete Daka, head of the Central Elections Commission (CEC), said they have begun preparations for May elections in the northern municipalities and said she did not foresee any problems in the organizational aspect. “We have organised elections in these municipalities in the past and there will therefore be no problems,” she said. Daka also said that the use of Kosovo symbols in the elections cannot be questioned.

“Serbs’ decision to go to polls can initiate resumption of dialogue” (media)

U.S. analyst on the Balkans, Daniel Serwer, told The Voice of America on Wednesday that “the decision of Serbs from northern Kosovo that support the Serbian List, to take part in the local elections was made because they don’t want to shoulder the blame for a possible failure of the dialogue between Belgrade and Pristina”. Serwer also said he hopes that “the decision of northern Kosovo Serbs can lead to the annulment of the tariff on Serbian goods … The decision to take part in the elections for institutions in northern Kosovo can lead to the resumption of dialogue between Belgrade and Pristina”.

Thaci: Appalled by offensive statements of officials in Belgrade (RTK)

The President of Kosovo Hashim Thaci, took to Twitter to react to the insulting statements of different Serbian officials, including Serbia’s President Aleksandar Vucic, about the war victims in Kosovo.

“Appalled by the offensive statements coming from officials in Belgrade, denying in this day and age, the massacres of innocent people done by Serbian government forces in 98-99. Denying Recak and dozens of massacres is deeply disturbing and doesn’t forebode well for reconciliation” Thaci wrote on his Twitter account.

Hoxhaj: Insulting war victims should be legally banned (Epoka e Re)

Kosovo’s Deputy Prime Minister, Enver Hoxhaj, said in an interview with the paper that Prime Minister Ramush Haradinaj’s dismissal of Minister of Local Government Administration Ivan Teodosijevic was a necessary move as it is unacceptable the way Serbian List representatives are behaving “by reflecting some type of fascist course in relation to what happened in Kosovo twenty years ago. They are once again hurting the dignity of the victims.”

Hoxhaj said that Kosovo should institute a legal provision whereby insults to the victims of the Serbian regime during 1998-99 are considered as a criminal offence. “We need to have in the future a legal initiative not to deny the genocide perpetrated in Kosovo. There are good European practices that prevent such a thing.”

Hoti: Impossible to negotiate with those who dispute Recak massacre (media)

Avdullah Hoti, head of the Democratic League of Kosovo (LDK) parliamentary group, said that it is impossible to negotiate with someone who calls the Recak massacre a “fabrication”.

“This is what the Serbian president said today. This is the same as denying the holocaust. We have to be unified and demand strong reaction from the whole democratic world to these statements from Belgrade,” Hoti wrote on Facebook.

Rasic on Recak massacre: Respect for all the victims (RTK)

The leader of the Democratic Progresive Party Nenad Rasic condemned harshly the recent language of hearted used by Serbian officials towards the civilian victims of Recak. Rasic said that Vesna Mikic and Ivan Teodosijevic were only readers of the statements. He further expressed his condolences and respect for the victims of Recak massacre. “I am a pacifist and I think that it is better to discuss 1000 days than to fight for one day,” he said.

“There should be a special law on the language used by politicians. You build something for all these years, and somebody comes and ruins it all,” Rasic said.

“I harshly condemn any language of hatred especially when victims are concerned. Respect for all Recak victims and my deepest personal condolences for each family of the victims,” Rasic said.

Phillips: Border correction, bad idea (Bota Sot)

David Phillips from the Columbia University’s Institute for the Study of Human Rights said in an interview that he personally believes that the border correction idea is bad because Kosovo would give away part of its territory without getting anything in return. At the same time, Serbian President Aleksandar Vucic would not be able to secure enough votes in the Serbian parliament to amend the constitution and recognise Kosovo as an independent country, added Phillips.

He said the U.S. would have to take on a more active role in the dialogue between Belgrade and Pristina and that the dialogue is worth resuming only if Serbia adopts a constructive approach: “If not, the dialogue should be suspended. Serbia should be denied European Union membership for a foreseeable future,” Phillips said adding that instead of the U.S. putting pressure on Kosovo to lift the import tax, it should pressure Serbia to recognise Kosovo within its borders.

Lluka: Serbia knows the whereabouts of each missing person (Telegrafi)

Government of Kosovo coordinator for missing persons, Jahja Lluka, said that the search operations using a ground-penetrating radar in five sites has not produced any results with regards to detecting human remains.

Lluka said the Government of Kosovo has demonstrated commitment to the issue of missing persons and most recently Prime Minister Ramush Haradinaj allocated funds for the missing persons associations and went on to accuse Serbia of not implementing agreement for missing persons. “Serbia knows the whereabouts of each missing person because the army and the police never undertook a crime without planning it first,” Lluka said.

MPs call for extraordinary session on youth fleeing Kosovo (media)

Several news websites report that 41 members of the Kosovo Assembly, from the ruling coalition and the opposition, have requested an extraordinary session to debate on youth fleeing Kosovo, as the biggest threat the country has faced in the post-war period. The Kosovo Assembly Presidency will meet today at 10:00 and decide on the request.